We, the People, call Dr. Allen Frances, professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Duke University, to discuss his findings on national psyches and related issues.
[note: the following comes from excerpts of Frances’ book, “twilight of american sanity’]
Frances:”..what does it say about us, that we elected someone so manifestly unfit and unprepared to determine mankind’s future? Trump is a symptom of a world in distress, not its sole cause. Blaming him for all our troubles misses the deeper, underlying societal sickness that made possible his unlikely ascent…Trump isn’t crazy, but our society is.”
Frances: “How could a Trump triumph?” He exploits American distresses: Trump claimed he could bring back jobs – he can’t; inequality: Clinton failed to adequately defend her superior plan; terror: Trump’s tough guy talk worked; immigration: Trump capitalized on fear and tribalism; Trump falsely blamed government for not working when Republican policies did it; Trump promised a return to ‘glory days” .
Frances: "The attitudes Trump is exploiting": follow the leader - the authoritarian personality; overconfidence in a Con Man: lesser people overestimate his ability; misogyny: America not ready for a female president; racism: taps into white fears; social conservatism: evangelicals will back anyone who'll give them power; libertarianism: "freedom" from government restraints on MY behavior; attitude toward truth: right-wing media "spew forth a constant spate of alternative facts"; "America First and Great": Trump as America's savior; triumph of fake populism: seduction of masses by demagogues who promise everything; "Conspiracy-Theorist-in-Chief; in uncertain times, scared people seek and want a comforting certainty.
Frances: "I think it's fair to call our society delusional because we've lost touch with the reality of starkly obvious existential threats. Instead we weave wish-fulfilling, convenient, but dangerous fantasies.....
- Societal delusion: We don't have to worry about global warming or environmental pollution because God or technology will save the day." Scientific evidence against this is overwhelming.
- Societal delusion: "World population can keep growing without causing drastic resource depletion, irreversible global warming, incessant wars, mass migrations, frequent pandemics, and recurring famines." See 2017-2024 events!!!!!
- Societal delusion: "We don't have to worry about running out of things because there is always a high-tech fix to get whatever more stuff we will eventually need." This ignores already using up resources like fossil fuels, clean water, productive soil - and - that 6,000 years ago the Sahara was green.
- Societal delusion: "If the rich get richer, the benefits will trickle down to everyone else and the world will be a better place." This ignores how tech advances worsen inequality; ignores enormous top 1%-bottom 95% gaps existing; ignores the ever-worsening CEO-to-worker pay ratios, ignores the kleptocratic "democracies" existing
- Societal delusion: "The United States has the best health-care system in the world." Reality: "We have the most expensive and least efficient health-care system in the world, delivering markedly unbalanced care that achieves poor outcomes."
- Societal delusion: "The United States can bully other countries into doing whatever we want." Realty: "Wars always begin with high hopes and always end with shattered dreams and bodies."
- Societal delusion: "Our country can only be great again if we build walls around it." Reality: "All of us originate from just a few thousand breeding pairs that managed to survive a catastrophic volcano [alternate theory: pandemic] seventy thousand years ago. This makes the entire human race very close cousins.."
- Societal delusion: "Since mankind has been given dominion over the earth, our needs are paramount; the survival of other species need not concern us." Reality: Five previous extinctions destroyed 50% of species - the 6th, manmade could be the worst; humans are destroying 30,000 species annually - including ones not known
- Societal delusion: "It's worth trading away almost all of our privacy in order to gain security, convenience, and valuable research data." Reality: We have exceeded Orwell's nightmare; 20th century authoritarian persecution clearly destroys this claim; "forever data" already threats "the right to be forgotten"
- Societal delusion: "The more guns the better. Guns don't kill people, people do. An armed populace is a safe populace." Reality: International safety data clearly refutes this. Want to be less likely to be shot? - Move to Canada, or any number of other more civilized nations with fewer guns. NO place in America is safe.
- Societal delusion: "The technological revolution can do no wrong." Reality: "Artificial intelligence is racing ahead too fast to be properly controlled by common sense and ethical considerations." See also public celebrity fake images generated by various high-tech processes.
Frances: "Hitler, like Trump, never won a popular election. Hitler, like Trump, had only the greatest contempt for democratic traditions.." Hitler, like Trump, regarded truth as negotiable, lies as effective weapons, and morality as excess baggage. Hitler, like Trump, was a conspiracy theorist who surrounded himself with subservient 'yes men." Hitler, like Trump, was a world-class narcissist. Hitler, like Trump, was despised and underestimated by the political establishment who felt he could be used.." Hitler, like Trump, felt disrespected and treated unfairly, and had many scores to settle. Hitler, like Trump, claimed infallibility. Hitler, like Trump, exploited fear, anger, and resentments of his people. Hitler, like Trump, promoted tribalism and reviled minorities as dangerous vermin.... Hitler was also unlike Trump is some ways. He was much smarter, better read, more mature, better organized, less ignorant of history, more self-disciplined, less distractible, better mannered, less needy, more plausible - and, so far, much more bloodthirsty, ruthless, and deadly."
Frances: "Trump won the evangelical vote by a surprisingly wide four-to-one margin and won the white Catholic vote by two-to-one [in 2016]...the work of cynical Christian leaders who sold their souls to Trump..in exchange for his support for their hard-line positions against abortion and gay rights...the teachings of Jesus Christ were surely cast by the wayside."
Frances: "Jesus didn't care a fig about abortion or homosexuality. In his time, abortion was legal and widely practiced - b ut he never once condemned it in all his many preachings. Homosexuality was also accepted and widely practiced - and again Jesus never once condemned it. Jesus was the champion of the underdogs against fat cats like Trump......Anyone who believes that Jesus could ever support a man like Trump needs lots more Bible study."
Please return to this question: "What does Trump's election say about US????????????/ In 2024, after 8 years of public scrutiny - why is America even half-seriously considering re-electing THE anti-George Washington? THE anti-Abraham Lincoln??? THE anti-Franklin Roosevelt??? THE anti-Dwight Eisenhower???
THE NUMBER ONE character test for ANY president is CHARACTER, HONESTY, BELIEF IN DEMOCRACY. Donald J. Trump has decisively demonstrated he has NONE of these characteristics..
What would the 2024 election of Trump say about America? By electing this dishonest con man, are WE saying we no longer believe in "democracy."??? Are we "throwing in the towel"??? Is it over for America?
What would Trump's 2024 election say about US?????
With Justice For All 